Helssikan

[linguistcat]

I posted this earlier in the "what did you accomplish today" thread, without a romanization.

/m n ŋ/ <m n ng>
/p b t d k g ?/ <p b t d k g '>
/ts dz/ <ts dz>
/ɸ β s z ɕ ʑ h/ <f v s z sh zh h>
/r l/ <r l>
/w j/ <w y>
Q (long form) this is represented as a doubling of the letter following it, ex /Qb/ <bb>. If the sound following is presented as a digraph, only the first is doubled, ex /Qɕ/ <ssh>.

/i y u/ <i ï u>
/e ø o/ <e ë o>
/a ɶ ɑ/ <a ä ɑ>
as well as long versions

consonant clusters
l/r/s/t/w/j+any -h
z/d/n+voiced
h+unvoiced
Q+any -(?, h, w, j)

diphthongs (will almost certainly reduce these)
iy, iu, ie, iø, io, ia
ye, yø, yɶ
ui, ue, uo, uɑ
ei, ey, eu
øi, øy, oi, ou
ai, ay, au, ɶy, ɑu

syllable structure
generally (C)V(T)(Q), word final (C)V(T) where C is any consonant, V is any vowel/long vowel or allowed diphthong, T is any of n/t/d/s/z/h/w/j, and Q causes lengthening in the following consonant, if applicable, and disappears if not.

Helssi /hels:i/ is the name of the speakers, and Helssikan /hels:ikan/ is the language.

[bradrn]

Helssikan /hels:kan/

Whatever happened to the ⟨i⟩?

[Travis B.]

Helssikan /hels:kan/

Whatever happened to the ⟨i⟩?

I had the same question. I assumed it was a typo.

[linguistcat]

Helssikan /hels:kan/

Whatever happened to the ⟨i⟩?

I had the same question. I assumed it was a typo.

It was, I rushed and didn't check things much. It's corrected now.

[Rounin Ryuuji]

/a ɶ ɑ/ <a ä ɑ>

Why not å for that last one? Distinguishing "a" and "ɑ" in a language's orthography would feel... odd.

Helssi /hels:i/ is the name of the speakers, and Helssikan /hels:ikan/ is the language.

Honestly, I'd just assumed the /i/ had devoiced out of existence.

[linguistcat]

/a ɶ ɑ/ <a ä ɑ>

Why not å for that last one? Distinguishing "a" and "ɑ" in a language's orthography would feel... odd.

Yeah it's kind of a fight between having too many diacritics and having weird letter symbols/letter symbols that would get conflated if I got it published. But since that's a ways off if ever, I'm not too worried at the moment. But I would like a way to keep them separate for notation and deciding characters names for my own records.

Helssi /hels:i/ is the name of the speakers, and Helssikan /hels:ikan/ is the language.

Honestly, I'd just assumed the /i/ had devoiced out of existence.

I guess it could be an alternation found in some dialects

[bradrn]

/a ɶ ɑ/ <a ä ɑ>

Why not å for that last one? Distinguishing "a" and "ɑ" in a language's orthography would feel... odd.

It’s attested in some Cameroonian languages, apparently. (e.g. Medumba)

[Rounin Ryuuji]

/a ɶ ɑ/ <a ä ɑ>

Why not å for that last one? Distinguishing "a" and "ɑ" in a language's orthography would feel... odd.

It’s attested in some Cameroonian languages, apparently. (e.g. Medumba)

Well, okay then...? I still think it's odd, and probably will cause typesetting issues (not to mention using IPA characters as part of the orthography or Romanisation can make things look rather ugly).

[linguistcat]

Janko already contacted me so here are the numbers one through ten:

one = bi /bi/
two = rë /rø?/
three = tar* /tarQ/
four = il* /ilQ/
five = oz /oz/
six = wo /wo/
seven = rës /røs/
eight = lad* /ladQ/
nine = ladbbi /ladb:i/
ten = ladrrë* /ladr:øQ/

Helssi use base eight. The numbers with asterisks end in the lengthening phoneme that causes consonants following it in the next morpheme to lengthen. While this does happen across morphemes in a word, it is stopped by word boundaries.

Any odd phrasing or outright mistakes are due to dealing with some minor health issues, so please excuse them but feel free to ask if you're really not sure about what I've said.

I'm going to work on some common name elements soon.

[linguistcat]

Names and name elements, part 1:

Katmoy /kat.moj/ - a name derived from a rare but still existent species, similar in environmental niche to Earth wolves
Zhɑyngos /ʑɑj.ŋos/ - a type of extinct sea life, a name used more often by nobles
Pävïl /pɶ.βyl/ - also the name of a type of flowering moss used on richer ships for both decoration and food
Mun* /munQ/ - a common first element in a compound name. The alchemical element of aether. Also used metaphorically as a wish for an easy life.
Ki'i /ki.?i/ - a common first element in both personal names and ship names. The alchemical element of energy.
Ɑtseyu /ɑ.tse.ju/ - a domesticated creature found on many ships, taking up a niche similar to house cats, both to rid the ship of pests and because they are considered cute by many Helssi. May be used as a name by itself or combined with other elements.
Tïr /tyr/ - literally child. Common second element, especially with numbers or descriptive elements

[linguistcat]

A few more name elements

Hazzi /haz:iQ/ - A name chosen for children the parents hope to be strong and tenacious. A large, beetle-like creature that filled a similar niche to wildebeests. Requiring large amounts of land and moss to feed on and migrate over, they are now extinct. They were said to fight rivals through a ritual bioluminescent display. A distant, smaller, domesticated relative called the linshiyu /linɕiju/ is still extant.
Vɑ'lït /βɑ?lyt/ - A type of flowering moss. Not edible but kept for decoration on larger or higher class ships.